Survey Research on e-Learningin Asian Countries - Fiscal Year 2002

(Country Specific Report - Malaysia)

- Table of Contents 1. Market: Market Trends of e-Learning..........................................................................................1
1.1 Status of IT Promotion (Centered on the Internet).................................................................1
1.1.1 Outline of the Internet .....................................................................................................1
1.1.2 Outline of ISP .................................................................................................................1
1.2 Status of Education and Training System..............................................................................1
1.2.1 Higher Education ............................................................................................................1
1.2.2 Vocational Education ......................................................................................................2
1.3 IT Human Resources Required.............................................................................................3
1.3.1 Outline of IT Human Resources .....................................................................................3
1.3.2 Outline of IT Human Resource Education ......................................................................4
1.4 E-Learning Market Trends.....................................................................................................4
2. Technology: Trends of e-Learning System (Synchronous & Asynchronous)...............................5
2.1 Multimedia University (MMU) ................................................................................................5
2.1.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................5
2.1.2 Activities Related to e-Learning ......................................................................................5
2.2 Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR)...................................................................................6
2.2.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................6
2.2.2 Activities Related to e-Learning ......................................................................................7
2.3 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)...........................................................................................92.3.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................92.3.2 Activities Related to e-Learning ......................................................................................9
2.4 Open University Malaysia (UNITEM) ....................................................................................92.4.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................92.4.2 Activities Related to e-Learning ......................................................................................9
2.5 Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) ...................................................................................... 11
2.5.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................... 11
2.5.2 Activities Related to e-Learning .................................................................................... 11
2.6 Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) ......................................................................................... 11
2.6.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................... 11
2.6.2 Activities Related to e-Learning .................................................................................... 11
2.7 National Institute of Public Administration Malaysia (INTAN) .............................................. 11
2.7.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................... 11
2.7.2 Activities Related to e-Learning .................................................................................... 11
3. Advanced Activities...................................................................................................................12
4. Government Policy and its Vision (Mid- and Long-term Direction) ...........................................12
4.1 Status of IT Policies.............................................................................................................12
4.2 E-Learning Related Measures as Part of IT or Educational Policies ...................................12i

4.2.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................124.2.2 Policies and its Details..................................................................................................13
4.2.3 E-Learning Related Organizations................................................................................13
4.3 Laws Regulating Rights for Intellectual Property and Personal Information in e-Learning ..144.3.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................144.3.2 Laws and its Details......................................................................................................14
4.4 Vision ..................................................................................................................................15
4.5 International and National Conference................................................................................15ii

1. Market: Market Trends of e-Learning
1.1 Status of IT Promotion (Centered on the Internet)
1.1.1 Outline of the Internet
According to the statistics of ITU (2001), the number of Internet users in Malaysia is about
6.5 million, indicating a high Internet diffusion rate of about 27.31%. Comparing this figure with
1999 ITU investigation results, which indicated that the number of Internet users was 2.8
million, reveals the significant growth in the number of Internet users in this country.
However, individual Malaysian users have limited Internet connection methods, either ISDN
or dial-up. For this reason, Malaysia can only provide narrow band connections thoughdemand for broadband connections is growing throughout the world.
High-speed CATV connection service, widely used in other countries, is not expected to be
popular in Malaysia because CATV is not widely utilized. Slow connection is one of the reasons
why there is no rise in the usage of B2B and thus, one of future tasks of Malaysia is to provide
broadband connections.

1.1.2 Outline of ISP
There are only a small number of licensed Internet Service Providers (ISP) in this country;
therefore, various types of Internet connection services are not provided in Malaysia due to the
low competition rate among the providers. The Malaysian government, which does not seem tofavor intensive competition among ISPs, is reluctant to license new providers. The number ofmain ISPs in Malaysia as of 2001 is six, according to the investigation reported by ITU.

1.2 Status of Education and Training System
1.2.1 Higher Education
In Malaysia, the educational system generally consists of primary (six years), lower
secondary (three years), upper secondary (two years), post secondary (two years), and higher
education (two to four years), each of which requires national assessment examination uponcompletion. Grades obtained in the first intermediate education courses basically determine
the students' further courses. The second intermediate course allocates students, based on
students' desires and aptitudes, to academic courses (art, science), technical courses, andvocational courses. Higher education in Malaysia consists of university, polytechnic, and higher
education organizations, including vocational college (e.g., teacher training school).
Malaysia does not have a compulsory education system but provides eleven years ofeducation, up to the upper secondary, free of charge. Thus, 100 % of children in Malaysia go to
primary school and 90 % go to upper secondary school (as of 2000). The percentage ofstudents advancing to universities is also high at 22 %, and the government has targeted anadvancement rate of 35 % by 2005.
The number of higher education organizations is 623 as of 2000, in which there are 24
universities (consisting of 15 public universities and 9 private universities) and the rest,
vocational colleges.
(1) National University
In Malaysia, there are 14 national universities and one international university, including
the oldest university in Malaysia, University of Malaya, established in 1949. The number ofstudents attending the national universities was 84,000 as of 1990, and during the next ten
years from 1990 to 2000 the number increased to 270,000 as the government started
making efforts in education according to the Sixth and Seventh Malaysia Plans. That is a 3.2
times increase over 1990. When classifying students by major, there is increase in students
majoring in science, engineering, and IT.

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(2) Private University
For a long time, only public universities had been licensed in Malaysia. However, in
accordance with the deregulation of education for the purpose of improving the level ofhigher education, the establishment of the first private university in Malaysia was approvedin 1996. Specifically, Telekom Malaysia, the major Malaysian communication enterprise, wasasked by the Ministry of Education to establish a private university and thus established
Universiti Telekom in 1997. It was the first private university in Malaysia. Though being a
private university, Universiti Telekom is supported by 100% funding from the biggest national
enterprise in Malaysia, so it is virtually run by national policy. Universiti Telekom provides an
education mainly in telecommunication and information technology fields. Thereafter, otherengineering universities were established in order to cope with the shortage of engineers,
including Universiti Tenaga Nasional established by Tenaga Nasional, a power company,
and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS established by Petroliam Nasional Berhad(PETRONAS), an oil company. In accordance with requests from the government, suchcompanies have shifted the role of their R&D department to those universities. There are
now nine private universities, including Malaysia University of Science and Technology andMultimedia University (MMU) located in Cyberjaya (supported by 100 % funding from
Telekom Malaysia).

1.2.2 Vocational Education
In the promotion of the National Development Plan in Malaysia, the Economic Plan Unit
(EPU) of the Prime Minister's Department plays a central role with the support of other central
government departments and agencies and related responsible government offices. In the pastten years, the government has placed emphasis on the fostering of human resources, as
clarified by a number of policy recommendations, such as the speech by the prime minister
Mahathir made in 1991 of "Malaysia: The Way Forward (Vision 2020)", "Second Long-term
Plan (OPP2)" from 1991 to 2000, and "Seventh Malaysian Plan" from 1996 to 2000. These
political announcements placed emphasis on the necessity of further fostering of humanresources, a skilled and highly productive labor force in particular, in order to sufficiently
support the National Development Plan, maintain and improve competitiveness in Southeast
Asia regions and the global market.
Recently, the policy of fostering human resources puts emphasis on the development ofvocational education and training. National political announcements, particularly the report by
the Cabinet Committee in 1991, have presented specific strategies such as the expansion of
the vocational education and training system, the improvement of its readiness, the expansionof the role of the private sector, and the improvement of infrastructures of the labor force
suitable for future training. For the budget for fostering human resources, "Seventh Malaysia
Plan (1996 - 2000)" has allocated 15.4 % of the total amount of the development budget to
education and training, 12.9 % of which (i.e., 1,303,300,000 RM, 3.5 times larger than that of
Sixth Malaysia Plan from 1990 to 1995) was allocated only to job training.
Such vocational and job training is performed by various public and private training
organizations and training schools. In the public sector, most vocational training programs are
performed by four main organizations of the Manpower Department of the Ministry of Human
Resources, MARA of the Ministry of Entrepreneur, the Youth Section of the Ministry of Youthand Sport, and Technical Education Bureau of the Ministry of Education. These organizations
are responsible for about 220 education organizations performing some pre-employment
vocational education and training.

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"Seventh Malaysia Plan" also plans to further provide such education organizations to fostera labor force having advanced skills. Central government offices such as the Ministry of Home
Affairs and the Ministry of Defense and provincial governments are also responsible for the
training centers for specific groups.
In order to rationalize and adjust various training activities in Malaysia, National Vocational
Training Council (NVTC) of Ministry of Human Resources prepares a nation-wide vocational
skill standards and qualification system. Efforts for bridging the gap between the provided
training and actual needs of industrial fields are mainly performed by developing National
Occupational Skill Standards (NOSS). Providing those who have satisfied specificrequirements of NOSS with Malaysia skill certificates through the "Skill Certification" program
also reduces such gaps.

1.3 IT Human Resources Required
1.3.1 Outline of IT Human Resources
The greatest challenge to "Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) vision" (which will be describedlater) promoted by the government was how to secure the human resources required toachieve this project. This challenge has been gradually overcome by the government's efforts
after the late 1990's to actively foster IT-related human resources (e.g., establishment ofMultimedia University). As the workforce increased from 8.3 million to 9.2 million from 1996 to
2000, the ratio of knowledge-based workers has increased from 11.9 % to 19.0%.
However, the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDC), with jurisdiction over MSC,
estimates that the required number of new knowledge-based workers in 2005 will be 107,940(30,000 of which will be needed by MSC) while estimating that the number ofknowledge-based workers (e.g., future graduates of universities) newly supplied in the same
year will be 94,821. This demonstrates the fact that the shortage of knowledge-based workers
in the next five years has not been overcome yet.
In order to reduce the shortage, the Malaysian government, which has been working on the
promotion of the fostering of IT-related human resources, permits foreign IT technical experts
to be temporarily hired. In Malaysia, foreign workers had been prevented from being hired in
specialized fields by "Prohibition of Working in 134 Technical Jobs by Foreign TechnicalExperts" issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs in February 2000. Hiring foreign technicalexperts satisfies the market needs and helps Malaysian workers to inherit the foreigners'
techniques. The government also provides preferential tax treatment or the like in order to callback Malaysian knowledge-based workers who flowed into foreign countries.
Smart School, one of the main applications of MSC, has an objective of improving fosteringof human resources and education systems in Malaysia.

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(People)
350,000
Technical Support
300,000

Computer Programmer
System and Business Analyst

250,000

Software Developer

108,230

System Hardware Engineer
200,000
62,820150,000

100,000

71,02034,72021,32026,68050,00025,6200

10,41015,93037,8602000

2010(Year)

Source: Multimedia University
Figure 1-1 Forecast of IT Workforce Demand in Malaysia

1.3.2 Outline of IT Human Resource Education
In Malaysia, the following policies are provided in developing IT related human resources.
(1) Short-term policies- In three years, private and public higher education organizations shall create 25,000
students majoring in computer, art, design, and IT.
- Foreign intellectual workers are permitted to enter Malaysia without any limitation.
- Incentives are provided (e.g., by tax system) to Malays returning to Malaysia who had
flowed to foreign countries.
(2) Mid- and Long-term Policies- MSC certifications shall be given to higher education organizations to establish a systemthrough which IT human resources can be supplied nationwide.
- Four universities (MMU, Universiti Putra Malaysia, one of national universities in
Malaysia, Universiti Tenaga Nasional) shall be incorporated in MSC.
- The rate of advancement to university shall be improved.
As part of a project to improve IT literacy, the Ministry of Education provides training forschoolteachers. Specifically, this project collects few teachers representing each school to be
trained, and they can return to their schools to train their colleagues. During the past few years,
this project has trained 60,000 teachers.

1.4 E-Learning Market Trends
Information unavailable.

42. Technology: Trends of e-Learning System (Synchronous & Asynchronous)
2.1 Multimedia University (MMU)
http://www.mmu.edu.my/
2.1.1 Overview
In accordance with the request from the government, MMU was established in July 1999 by
100% funding from Telekom Malaysia for the purpose of fostering IT technical experts
responsible for the MSC project. The number of students in the two campuses (Cyberjaya,
Melaka) as of 2000 is about 12,000, among which 6,000 students study in the Cyberjaya
campus. Many graduates work in IT related companies and receive high evaluation.
MMU accepts students irrespective of ethnic groups and does not apply the Bumiputra policy.
Thus, the student body of this university includes 50% or more students of Chinese descent.
There are seven faculties, four of which are located at the Cyberjaya campus (Engineering,
Information Technology, Creative Multimedia, and Management) and three of which arelocated at the Melaka campus (Information Science and Technology, Engineering andTechnology, and Business and Law). This university uses a practical education method utilizing
advanced technologies, including lectures provided through IT devices and educational
material provided online.
This university also has an incubator for fostering high-tech venture companies. Companies
in the incubator can use the infrastructure in MSC and receive support for software
infrastructure (e.g., tax system, legal system), and support for clerical service (e.g., company
registration). Once included in the incubator, the company must become independent as alegal body within two years. As of March 2000, the incubator included 41 companies, such ascompanies for software development, contents development, education material development,
and creation of animation.
This university has its own R&D funds totaling 10.5 million RM (about 300 million yen). It alsouses a governmental supporting scheme for research and test, in which designated universities
can use a part of 1.6 billion RM (about 50 billion yen) within five years. This allows MMU to put
effort into R&D activities. The university has 19 research centers where research is performed forvarious subjects, such as high-speed broadband, network, virtual reality, computer graphic,
artificial intelligence, e-commerce. The Cyberjaya campus also has a business-academia
collaboration with top global companies such as NTT, Ericsson, Nokia, and Intel.
2.1.2 Activities Related to e-Learning
From July 1998, Multimedia University has been providing e-learning programs. The programs
are provided in English with a school tuition of 145 RM per credit. This university has developed
a unique e-learning engine called Multimedia Learning System (MMLS) for use in the program.
(1) Courses
Bachelor of Management (students can select from among 41 subjects, which provide 122
credits)(2) Delivery Format(a) Web-based, using Multimedia Learning System (MMLS)
MMLS has various functions such as registration of staff and students, management of
the learning contents, templates for quizzes, intelligent function, Short Notes, e-mail,online chatting, news group, bulletin board, etc. MMLS conforms to SCORM standards.
MMLS consists of two parts: engine and contents. The engine includes an intelligent
function in recording and analyzing a student's study pattern, allowing educational
material to be provided for the student depending on the student's ability. The student may
use the template to take a quiz and receive the results immediately. MMLS is
platform-independent and can be integrated with any type of database system.
(b) Videotapes and cassette tapes(c) Communication methods: telephone, e-mail, posting, and fax
5LearnerCompetency
Records

Learner
Records

Intelligent
Agent

Web Server

Delivery Agent

Learner

Learning
Objects

Source: David Asirvatham (Jan. 2003), materials submitted to "International Seminar on e-Learning 2003"
Figure 2-1 Outline of MMLS

(3) Facilities in Distance Education Center- Each terminal is connected via wireless LAN.
- Several TV cameras are installed, that can be angled in different directions when used
for a live broadcast.
- In order to control the five remote sites, there is a multipoint control apparatus, function
for switching a studio screen, and a mixer for audio control.
- A terminal at a remote site can simultaneously display both a live broadcast of a lecture
and a screen on which a teacher writes down some lecture points.
- A server working in an on-demand manner is provided so that students can participate inpast lectures.

2.2 Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR)
http://www.unitar.edu.my/main.html

2.2.1 Overview
UNITAR was the first virtual university approved by Ministry of Education in December 1998.
This university provides academic degrees to students using e-learning by providing courses
for business and information technology through the use of advanced multimedia,
communication, and an electronic learning environment. Educational material is provided by
the combination of CD software and online format.

6Source: UNITAR Website
Figure 2-2 UNITAR Learning Model

2.2.2 Activities Related to e-Learning(1) Courses
Up to now, 7,500 students have participated in the following 12 programs (among which
seven programs are accredited by National Board of Accreditation).
1) Certificate in Business Administration (CBA)
2) Certificate in Information Technology (CIT)
3) Certificate in Management (CMgt)
4) Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
5) Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT)6) Bachelor in Information Systems (BIS)
7) Bachelor of Management (B Mgt)
8) Master of Business Administration (MBA)9) Master of Information Technology Management (MITM)
10) Master of Information and Multimedia Technology (MIMT)11) Master of Science (Education) (by research)
12) Ph.D. (Education) (by research)
Accredited by National Board of Accreditation: 1), 2), 4), 5), 8), 9), 10)

The following four programs are new programs awaiting approval to be introduced.
- Executive MBA in Strategic Marketing (EMBA)- Master of Science (IT) (by research)- Ph.D. (IT) (by research)- Master of Information and Telehealth Management
These courses allow students to proceed to the next step in accordance with his or her
progress of learning; therefore, some students may finish a course before a semester iscompleted.
(2) Delivery Format(a) Materials
Educational materials are provided by the combination of CD-ROM and web material.
Up to now, more than 300 subjects have been developed into 21 types of CD material and
20 or more types of web-based material. Generally, advanced level courses are provided
using web-based educational materials while courses that are relatively lower in level areprovided using CD-ROM.

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(b) Virtual Online Instructional Support System (VOISS) Ver.2.0
This system is a course management system used by both teachers and students. Thissystem includes various modules and functions such as on-line tutorial, forum, FAQ,
e-mail, bulletin board, notification, assignment, exercises, and examinations. Materials
other than online tutorials are performed asynchronously.
(c) Electronic library
A web-based virtual library is set up on the Web, and the students can access required
papers and other materials from the Website. Information retrieval is also available throughonline databases such as ProQuest, ERIC, Euromonitor, and ABI/INFORM Global.
(d) Study centers
UNITAR has seven facilities called study centers or regional centers in Malaysia.
Students may use equipments provided in the facilities such as classroom, personal
computer, gym, library, amusement facility, and are able to have a meeting with a faculty
adviser. The university also provides business academic degrees in Cambodia, so one
study center is in Cambodia.
(e) Customer relations management (CRM)
CRM provides supports for students concerning various problems they may encounterconcerning the content of their study, techniques, and personal issues. Different from thetutorials described below, CRM also supports students by enabling students to receive
answers to questions from the teachers smoothly. Consultations for students are available
through e-mail, telephone, fax, or the like. CRM provides an around-the-clock service.
(3) Others
This university provides three kinds of tutorials (a total of 21 to 24 hours of tutorials for one
subject) to students because the university recognizes that tutorial is required for an
increased educational effect in distance education. Assuming that an average student
receives five subjects in one semester, then the student would have to participate in tutorials
for a total of 120 hours (5 subjects times 24 hours) (i.e., less than nine hours per week).
Table 2-1 Tutorial System
1) Tutorial in study center- The face-to-face tutorial is conducted in the normal classroom setting.
- The first-year students receive a tutorial for 21 to 24 hours (all freshmen receive tutorials in the same way).
The other students receive a tutorial for eight hours.
2) Online tutorial- Online tutorial is scheduled for four sessions, which means eight hours, per semester.
- When receiving an online tutorial, a student logs into the system at a predetermined time.
- A screen displayed on a personal computer is divided into the following three parts.
a) Main screen- The main screen is used as the white used by the tutor. The tutor can write in this space and paste images
or PowerPoint slides to display.
b) Image of the student- This tells the tutor whether all his/her students have attended or not.
c) Space for questions- This is the space for students to type questions or provide ideas and views via e-mail.
- The tutor can speak to his/her students, but the students can communicate with the tutor only by e-mail.
3) Forum-type tutorial- There are four or more forums in a semester which is considered to account for eight hours of normal
tutorial.
- The tutor puts up a topic for discussion for about two weeks, and the students have to have a discussion
on the topic. It is asynchronous.
- All students taking the course have to participate in the discussion at least twice in the period of two
weeks. Their views are graded by the tutor.

8(4) Future Development
UNITAR already has a campus in Cambodia and plans to have campuses in Indonesia,
China, Bangladesh, and other countries.

2.3 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
http://www.usm.my/

2.3.1 Overview
USM is a national university located on Pinang Island that has been providing distanceeducation since 1971. The School of Distance Education has been providing lectures utilizing
IT, by using a videoconference system since 1988, for example. There are 20 bases in
Malaysia. In 1995, a videoconference system called VideoNet was introduced. In 1997, anelectronic library was provided. Since 1999, an online education has been provided.

2.3.2 Activities Related to e-Learning
The introduction of VideoNet has allowed USM to provide lectures via the Internet. This has
allowed students to receive lectures on their PCs without having to go out to various regionalbases.
Students also can take examinations online and the results can be returned to the students
immediately. However, all examinations other than open book ones are performed under thesupervision of staff of each regional center.
USM plans to distribute the lectures to neighboring countries by using satellite
communication in addition to the Internet.

2.4 Open University Malaysia (UNITEM)
http://www.unitem.edu.my/

2.4.1 Overview
UNITEM is a private university exclusively for distance education that was founded in August
2000 by 11 national universities for the purpose of providing distance education. It is auniversity established for the purpose of improving the university advancement rate based on
the government policy and has an objective of providing a higher education in a low-cost andeasy-to-access manner. Now UNITEM has about 6,000 students and provides programs
covering as many as 13 fields.

2.4.2 Activities Related to e-Learning(1) Courses- Science & foundation studies- Information technology & multimedia communication- Business & management- Education, arts & social sciences- Engineering (civil engineering / mechanical engineering / electric engineering)- Defence and security- Public administration- Executive diploma- Secretarial science- Others9(2) Delivery Format
Lectures are provided using a platform, a uniquely developed e-learning system, OU
Malaysia's Learning Management System. The LMS consists of two sections: a student
support section and a bidirectional learning section.
(a) Student support section
Students can access various services from each center (virtual). By accessing theapplicable site, the students can download educational materials or assignments required
for learning, and receive consistent services (e.g., transmission of completed
assignment).
1) Course center-

Course outline
Course module (PDF file)
Assignment
Past examination questions
Reference material
Support2) Communication center-

SMS
Chatting
Videoconference system
Archived discussion3) Knowledge center- Personal knowledge- Shared knowledge
4) Service center-

Myprogress (follow-up)
E-mail
SearchHelp
Electronic library(b) Bidirectional learning section
Self-examination
Learning object (for providing a method for solving a problem)
Comprehension level examination (for checking a student for the comprehension level after he or
she has studied a learning object)
Discussion board (this is a function for allowing tutors and students to have a discussion. The
students are guided so as to participate in the discussion in an easier manner)(3) Others
Online tutorial is provided in order to enhance the learning effect and to increase students'
motivation so that more students can continue studying in the course. In the teaching
manual for tutors, this university tells the tutors that the role of tutors in e-learning is to be a
motivator for students, to be a specialist for a subject, and to help students to solve technicalproblems.

102.5 Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
http://www.uitm.edu.my/index.html

2.5.1 Overview
UiTM was formerly called Institut Teknologi MARA. It was established for the purpose of
fostering Bumiputra human resources based on a government policy and was upgraded touniversity as UiTM in 1999 with the same purpose. UiTM has 19 campuses located in allprovinces other than the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan.

2.5.2 Activities Related to e-Learning
Since 1990, UiTM has been providing diplomas by distance education for the fields ofmanagement, finance, and business. From 1995 to 2000, 9,000 graduated from the university
through distance education.
Lectures are provided by face-to-face seminars and study centers in regions, as well as byvarious services including online educational material, e-mail, fax, telephone, online discussion,
online library.

2.6 Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
http://www.upm.edu.my/

2.6.1 Overview
UPM was established in 1971 by the merge of the College of Agriculture Malaya with theFaculty of Agriculture, University of Malaya. In the initial stages, UPM provided courses for
agricultural and forestry fields. Now UPM has 15 faculties covering computer science,business economics, and education, seven centers, and seven research institutes. It provides
69 bachelor courses, eight diploma courses, and 12 master and doctorate courses.

2.6.2 Activities Related to e-Learning
Since late 1999, UPM has been providing distance education for Bachelor ofCommunication. The university provides the contents with the technical support of an IT
company called Mahirnet. Students can have online tutorials and communicate by chatting,e-mail, electronic forums, and the like.

2.7 National Institute of Public Administration Malaysia (INTAN)
http://www.intanbk.intan.my/inbrief/inbrief.htm

2.7.1 Overview
INTAN is a training organization exclusively for government employees established in 1959
for the purpose of improving the quality of Malaysian public departments. INTAN has acooperative project with regional and international organizations through Malaysian TechnicalCooperation Programme (MTCP).

2.7.2 Activities Related to e-Learning
As a host organization in Malaysia for J-Net which is an e-learning project of JICA, INTAN
provides e-learning using a satellite. Through support from the Eighth National Plan, thisproject has a one billion RM budget under which plans are promoted to connect 220 schools,
libraries, and hospitals to the network.

11

3. Advanced Activities
Information unavailable.

4. Government Policy and its Vision (Mid- and Long-term Direction)
4.1 Status of IT Policies
Malaysia has national vision called "Vision 2020 (WAWASAN 2020)." This vision states that
Malaysia will be a member of advanced countries by 2020. In order to achieve this vision, theMalaysian industrial structure must be converted from the current manufacture-dependent
structure to a knowledge-based structure. Thus, the government specifies the information
multimedia field as a strategic field. As the first step, Malaysian Prime minister Mahathir disclosed
the "MSC Concept" in August 1996, according to which Malaysia aims to become the "Silicon
Valley" of Asia. This concept is the foundation of the country's IT policy.
"MSC Concept" is a national project according to which an administrative capital will be moved
from the capital Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya. MSC is planned to be constructed 20 km
south-southwest of Kuala Lumpur, occupying a 15 km times 50 km region covering Kuala Lumpur,
Putrajaya, and new Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It aims for becoming a global multimedia
base for 21st century. Any company acquiring MSC status can receive preferential treatment
based on the commitments by the Malaysian government (e.g., 10 years receipt of tax benefits,
100% investment tax credit).
The Malaysian government has been setting mid-term plans every five years for long-term
economic development. In the Seventh Malaysian Plan, the government disclosed a national
policy for IT for the first time. In this plan, the government recognized the significance of IT for the
economy and established the National Information Technology Conference (NITC) as agovernment advisory organization for promoting IT industry. In the Eighth Malaysian Plan (Eighth
Master Plan), disclosed in April 2001, the significance of IT was further focused upon bydescribing the provision of an intelligence-based society, the provision of the Internet to all
citizens, the fostering of IT-related human resources and IT industry, the improvement of the
productivity by IT, and the like.
In Malaysia, most IT users live in the area of the capital, causing a difference between thenumber of users in the capital area and rural regions. Thus, the "Eighth Malaysian Plan"
discloses an objective of eliminating the digital divide by spending 1.1 billion RM (about 34.3
billion yen) to use satellite communications (particularly VSAT technique) to provide the Internet
to rural education organizations or the like. The "Rural Internet Project" was also formulated,
under which IT centers are provided at predetermined locations. Since 2000, the "Internet Desa
Program", under which personal computers in post offices that can be used by general people
are connected to the Internet, has already been started.
Furthermore, the "Infodesa" program was formulated to provide IT-related training and develop
portal sites exclusively for rural regions, while providing a one-stop center for administrative
services. The "Infodesa Center", the base for this program, plans to provide teleworks anddistance education and initially allowed eight centers to be started under pilot projects.

4.2 E-Learning Related Measures as Part of IT or Educational Policies
4.2.1 Overview
In order to promote MSC development and effectively guide the improvement of theenvironment, the following seven concepts have been established and have been a focus ofattention as a specific IT promotion policy. One of them is for e-learning.

124.2.2 Policies and its Details(1) "Electronic Government" conceptThis concept has an objective of providing improved access to administrative services by
providing effective and efficient on-line administrative services. Specifically, a new capital,
Putrajaya, and other administrative organizations in the country are to be networked to realizea paperless government. Now driver’s certificates, car registration, payment for public utility
charges, and the like are provided through the paperless government under a pilot project.
(2) "Multi-Purpose Card" concept
A multi-purpose card is a plastic card including an IC chip. This concept has an objectiveof developing a common infrastructure for multi-purpose cards.
According to this concept, one smart card stores various functions (e.g., census
registration, driver’s certificate, immigration control, insurance, electronic money, credit card)
to realize a one-stop administrative service.
There are two types of multi-purpose cards: a government multi-purpose card and apayment multi-purpose card, and plans are to integrate the two cards in the future.
Multi-purpose cards have already been distributed to 5,000 government employees andplans are to distribute them to all citizens.
(3) "Smart School" concept (e-learning)This concept has an objective of improving the education system for fostering IT related
human resources in order to cope with the information society. This concept plans to
introduce an IT-based system through which study, evaluation, and management can beprovided electronically (e.g., electronic educational materials are provided and clerical tasks
in school are performed in an electronic manner).
(4) "Manufacture Support Network" concept (World-wide Manufacturing Web)
This concept has an objective of providing an improved environment in which manufacture
activities in MSC can be efficiently performed with regards to research, design, development,
engineering support, manufacture control, component procurement, and logistics so that
manufacture industries all over the world select Malaysia as their Asian base.
(5) Borderless Marketing Center
This concept has an objective of using the multiethnic strength of Malaysia to provide anenvironment in which information service and customer service can be provided to foreigncountries, especially Asian countries. Specifically, electronic publishing or translation
services for Asian countries will be provided.
(6) Telemedicine
This concept has an objective of providing information regarding individual health careand the lifetime health plan and providing specialized medical care at home and abroad byallowing clinics located in remote regions to be connected to a medical care network andaccumulate patient data.
(7) "R&D Cluster" conceptThis concept has an objective of providing multimedia universities or the like in Cyberjaya
to promote advanced R&D by the universities and companies.

4.2.3 E-Learning Related Organizations
Malaysia has the following e-learning related organizations.
(1) National Steering Committee on e-LearningThis is a committee for promoting e-learning established by related ministries anduniversities in October 2002. Main activities of this committee include an international
conference held by MMU in January 2003.

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4.3 Laws Regulating Rights for Intellectual Property and Personal Information in e-Learning
4.3.1 Overview"MSC concept" is a plan to be executed in three steps of Phases 1 to 3. With regards to legal
aspects, Phase 1 (1998 to 2005) plans to provide a basic legal framework for an electronic
network called Cyber Laws. Phase 2 (2006 to 2010) plans to adjust Cyber Laws in accordancewith international trends. Phase 3 (2011 to 2020) plans to provide an arbitration or mediation
organization for solving cyber conflicts. Actually, the development of these plans will be
accelerated because legal systems in other foreign countries have been rapidly developed.

4.3.2 Laws and its Details
Up to now, the following five laws have been formulated.
(1) "Amended Copyright Law"
For the purpose of supporting the success of the MSC concept, the copyright law
formulated in 1987 was amended because the law needed to be reconsidered to take into
consideration technological developments. This amended copyright law protects educational
copyrighted work, entertainment works, as well as computer information conventionallyprotected under an author’s copyright to protect copyrighted works with the consideration ofa network environment. This law also includes regulations to penalize those who haveunlocked copy protection devices such as those on a CD or the like.
(2) Digital Signature Act 1997
Digital Signature Act requires the appointment of a certified organization supervisor andthe licensing system of certified organizations. This act also includes the regulations for theconditions for providing a license and application for revoking a license, penalties, and theissue of certification.
(3) Computer Crimes Act 1997
Computer Crimes Act includes regulations for punishing the illegal use of a computer in acrime. According to this act, an illegal access charge will be applied to a person when he or
she has owned computer programs, data, or other information despite not having a right to
own them and he or she cannot disprove the assumption that he or she has obtained themby an illegal access.
(4) Telemedicine Act 1997
Telemedicine Act stipulates the rules for distance diagnosis and related matters and themonitoring system by the country. Doctors who can provide an examination by distance
medical care are designated by this act. Doctors living outside of Malaysia also can provide
distance medical examination by being designated by this act.
(5) The Communications and Multimedia Act 1998
This act was formed by integrating the old Electricity Act with the old Broadcast Law, andadding regulations for on-line networks or the like. In accordance with this new act, thegovernmental system was reformed so that a government policy office formerly called theMinistry of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts was newly named as the Ministry ofEnergy, Communications and Multimedia (MECM). Jabatan Telekom Malaysia (JTM), which
has conventionally worked as an external organization for executing policies and providing
specific administrative clerical tasks (e.g., regulatory actions and licensing actions based onlaws, certification of telephone fees and terminal devices, radio wave administration), hasallowed its role to be inherited by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia
Commission (MCMC), which is more independent than JTM.
Electronic government laws and data protection laws are also under consideration.

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4.4 Vision
Information unavailable.

4.5 International and National Conference
The following conference was held.
(1) "International Seminar on e-Learning"
Period: January 21 to 22, 2003

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